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Raptors 108, Magic 94

Raptors claw one back

LARRY MILLSON

From Friday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 10:13 AM EST 26/04/08

Ford scores 21 to drive win at home, cut into Orlando's series lead ...Read the full article

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  1. Roger S from Canada writes: The biggest win this season. Jose was the MVP of the game. Everybody contributed. TJ played better, which is also very important. Credited Sam to allow Jose closing the game. Game 4 is even more important. Raptors have great chance to get the job done. First Quarter remains to be the key. Remember, you won’t see Arroyo in the series anymore.
  2. Allan Wexler from Canada writes: Nice try Roger - Jose was good but the game was won in the second quarter when TJ went off and scored at will, putting the raps up 23. They never looked back. By the way, the Raps were better with Bosh on the bench, where he's not looking to be the second coming of Jason Kapono shooting three's. Kapono is really shooting the ball well, putting extra pressure on the defence. Ans jamario gave the Raps a big game. Kudos to the coach who didn't listen to the press and, once again, was his own man. That's why he's coaching and we're writing to the G & M.
  3. Roger S from Canada writes: Allan, I don't remember you ever commented when TJ can not do anything at his will in first two games and Orlando never looked back.

    Well, my only complaint is the refs, where did NBA pick those three mor0ns up?
  4. Yertu Damkule from Canada writes: wow, for once, rog, you & i agree...that was some pitiful display of officiating, even the swirsk noticed...and when the swirsk notices, you know it's pretty obvious.

    i know this'll get me slammed, and we're supposed to be politically correct...but at the 11:52 mark of the 1st Q, when i saw that violet palmer was working the game, i let out a little groan. not sure what it is, but games she works always tend to be just a little, i dunno, off. and am i the only one who notices that she seems to do a disproportionate number of raps games? not that the other two were any better.

    as for the game...well, i think everyone expected a better effort in the 1st Q, but was anyone else surprised that they actually sustained a high level of play for most of the rest of the game? no singling anyone out, no commenting about coach's mistakes or blown calls, let's just let this one linger for a few hours...and hope we see something similar saturday.
  5. Ermos Smith from Canada writes: The refs were brutal tonight. No flow in the game.

    Thankfully the Raps won big so the refs were a non factor.

    Basketball is a game of match ups and I have always contended that the Raps match up really well with the Magic. Better point gaurds and a much deeper bench. As long as the Raps can keep a couple of the Magics starters in foul trouble, they will win this series.

    Raps in 6.
  6. Ryan Hickman from Canada writes: Great crowd tonight! First quater set the tone for the entire game. Solid contributions by everyone tonight. Howard was certainly rattled by the fans when at the line.

    Bosh has to stop shooting threes!!!
  7. dave maggette from toronto, Canada writes: TJ played a good 5mins where he made 4 straight shots. Besides that he was pretty much himself. Jose was the one controlling the entire game. He made the right decisions and got control of things when Orlando was making a run in the 3rd. Jose had 13 assists today that alone should tell you what kind of game he had.

    I totally agree with that Violet chick ref...I think she is horrible. Bad calls all night long. Atleast the raps held there composure and won the game.

    Bosh horrible game. Just cuz he made 2 3's in the last 2 games he decided to be Larry Bird and start shooting them. I think he finished 0-4 from 3's and 6-14 from the field. This is not the Bosh we need. We need the Bosh from game 2.

    Everyone else on the team played well. Lets hope we can do it again for game 4 and the rest of the series.
  8. C Ta from Richmond Hill, Canada writes: There's nothing like the ACC crowd. "Superman sucks!", "TJ! TJ!", "Bull$hit!", and ever popular "José, José" song.

    Unlike Orlando where they need artificial clappers and a remixed version of "Everybody clap your hands!". /Shudder
  9. andy c from Canada writes: you know the refs were bad when the winning team's fans in a borderline blowout are complaining.
  10. HC Bargs from Canada writes: Nice to see TJ actually show up for a change. Here's hoping he can sustain that play throughout the series. I also liked that Sam is using Jose to close out the games. He's far better with the ball than TJ is.
  11. mike r from Southern Ontario, Canada writes: Lucky to snag a ticket to the game for tonight, nearly lost my voice chanting HOWARD! loved it! I've been to many Raptors games this was the best environment at the ACC I think I've ever seen!! Here's hoping they can continue it thru to the next game, the fans have proven we're here to help you out that's for sure! Bad game by Bosh but amazing game by the rest of the cast, if Bosh can turn his game around then Orlando is in trouble!!! LET'S GO RAPTORS, TAKE DOWN SUPERMAN AND THE MAGIC!
  12. albert strauss from Toronto,Ontario, Canada writes: Nice if we could keep both PGs and keep them motivated
  13. Chris Yang from Canada writes: Bosh wasn't so good... I think that he's still worn out from last game, so hopefully we can see him step up more next game. But... and I have to give credit, every single Raptor tonight gave unbelievable effort. It's rare to see the Raptors execute offense so well and put so much effort in defense. The crowd was going nuts, and who could blame them with TJ's blatant abuse of Arroyo, the dishes from Jose, Kapono's threes, moon's rebounds and shots, Howard's un-superman like performance, and the Raptors completely dominating the magic, if at least for one game. Even from the TV I thought the roof was going to collapse from all that noise. And I have to give credit to Bargs... even with those stupid calls from bad officiating, he gave Howard hell (though there were a few times when he was out of position).

    The next game is still a must-win. Now that there's a chance to make it a series and go 2-2, the Raptors have to capture momentum while they still can. I hope the Raptors gets lots of stretching, treatment and rest tonight because they're going to need it.
  14. Joseph Daniel from Canada writes: Chris Yang I noticed that as well that Bosh seems either still tired from the other night or beat up or both. He just didn't have any legs in his jump shot. All his points were either from free throws are down low. Rog great first post you even had love for TJ this morning who abused Aroyo as he should. Wow the stars must be aligning or something. Great game, Raps need to follow it up with another one on saturday. Then you will be able to call it a series.
  15. Larry Boutilier from Sydney, Canada writes: .......
    Finally I could watch a whole game!
    I couldn't watch most of first 2 games. They were horror movies to me.
    Why can't Me J make shots every game?
    Funny to see refs make up for each others bad calls.
    Biggest challenge for Raps is Turkoglo not Howard.
    He was only Magic player not at all suppressed .
    Do you think it would be a good idea to create more plays for Kapono?
    It was HIS daggers in the heart that killed the Magic.
  16. D D from Canada writes: Yertu- I groan as well when I see Violet...but there is a rule for how many games a ref can officiate a team throughout a season...but then those rules change for the playoffs of course...Im just surprised she is even in the playoff mix!! We can only hope she isn't in the finals ref rotation!
  17. emoncada Toronto from Canada writes: i liked what i saw from TJ, started creating a situation and made a drive and draw plays... it worked! also i noticed he started to pass the ball, hopefully it will continue this way. JC is a proven smart player, he handed the 5th foul of Howard and that impacted the Magic defence in late the 4th. i know for sure Magic will come back and will change their strategy...smitch should be ready to react! we all know if Raptors is shooting very well, they are hard to beat!

    i also like the support i saw from the crowd in the ACC. they really made noise and fully engage in the game! this will really help our boys boost their morale. great help from Moon... Bargs played a decent bball on both ends and Kapono shoot really well.
    and as i said... i expect the raps will sweep the games in ACC and will steal one in orlando... Raps in game 6 - as i predicted before! i absolutley agree with Ermos!
  18. emoncada Toronto from Canada writes: hmmm... it seems this forum is a little quiet than i expected (considering rpas won by a comfortable margin). probably the energy was all burnt by the game last night:-)
    bad officiating can potentially impact the result of the game only if its a close game but if you take care of your business by maintaning a comfortable lead like 3 ball posessions or at least 2 then your OK... my two cents Yertu and DD
  19. Michael Enright from Toronto, Canada writes: It was good to see the rest of the team step-up when Bosh wasn't operating at peak performance. If they get him back to his regular self and have a repeat performance from the rest of the crew, it could get very ugly Saturday.
  20. Toby Maloney from Canada writes: I echo the complaints on the officiating, not ready to pin it all on Violet though. (and I'm not just talking about fouls called on the Raptors.) If there is a takeout on the top screen, or a serious hold, then fine, call the moving screen, but if there's no impact from a minor hold, let them play. I think making too many chintzy calls creates chippy play the same as letting too much go. Gotta find the balance between flow of play and fairness and safety.
  21. Bobby S from Toronto, Canada writes: Great game by the Raps and especially the point guards. You have to give T.J a lot of props. He has dealt with a lot of criticism from the media and fans and came out and played unbelievable. He was definitely the difference maker today. Calderon was also fantastic and if our point guards keep up this type of production (31 pts, 16 assists) then they will be able to steam roll over the Magic's tandem. The other positive I can take out of this game is that the Rap's won even though Bosh was not dominant. It was a total team effort and for that reason Mitchell deserves a lot of credit. It's easy to rip on this guy when the team doesn't perform, but he deserves kudo's when they do. In terms of the officiating, the only thing I would have to say is that they were consistent for both teams. I thought a lot of the calls were chintzy, but they were calling them against both teams so it was a wash. Each crew is gong to call the games differently (like an umpire), so it's up to the players to figure out what they can and can't get away with. Finally, I think the fans that came out to the game deserve a lot of credit too. They really had an impact in the game, as you could see by Howard's free throw's. I hope they can keep it up for game 4 as it will be just as important for the Raps to win.
  22. Edwin Green from NS, Canada writes: DONT BE SO DOWN ON Tj him and jose are like salt and pepper you need them both DO any of you remember Tj geting on the dl it takes time to recover how many of you would play if you thought you might end up in a wheelchair dont be so down on the kid
  23. Yertu Damkule from Canada writes: emon - my thing w/ palmer is that she's got some kind of napoleon complex...the 'here i am, i'm the boss, i'm making this call, it's the right call, because i said so' attitude. i've seen enough to think that she's not a very good ref - but there are about 20 others i feel the same way about, who go unnoticed because they don't stand out (well, some do, because they're buffoons, and for some reason, are generally thought to be top-tier officials & get all the big games - bennett salvatore & dick bavetta are probably my two least favourites).

    anyway, my original point re. the officiating was not that calls were going against one team or another (that whole 'eye of the beholder' thing, right?), but that there were plenty of calls that simply did not need to be made, as tobey pointed out (wait, i'm agreeing w/ tobey? and i agreed w/ rog earlier? surely, the apocalypse is upon us).

    oh, and the reason there aren't many posters today is that people tend to come on here to complain & criticize. so, when there isn't much material, they tend to be unable to think of anything to add.

    RAPS IN 9!!!!!!!!!
  24. Joseph Daniel from Canada writes: LOL Yertu Raps in 9 ! ouch I don't know if we fans can survive 6 more games of massive swings in emotions like the past 3 . But I think it would be a highly entertaining series.
  25. Big Cayman from South Toronto, Canada writes: Yeah!!! Great win. For the first time since last week I got to see some ball highlights, and have an internet connection. There isn't too much basketball coverage in the great white and now flooding north. I fly back to Toronto tonight, no more power outages, water outages (irony anyone), flood warnings, terrible roads and evacuation procedures for me, but I have to admit that the moose here is far better than in the CN Tower, and that chopper flights are easily the coolest way to travel. From the ball highlights it looked like Bosh went off for monster dunks, and not like he had an off game unless you look at his 15 pts, which is sub par for him. It should be clear to everyone that the Raptors play their best games when both PGs are on, so please put your hatred in check for at least for the playoffs. Support your whole team, as the Raps obviously play better when the fans at the ACC and checking in through the media are behind them, they really need to take the next one it will give them momentum going back to Orlando. Go Raps! Go Bargs! (Yeah I said it, lol)
  26. Smooth Fan from Canada writes: Yertu,
    Not all of us come here to bicker, sometimes people ACTUALLY DO WORK at their jobs lol. Good game overall, TJ played much better (finally), Jose had a great game, and Kapono was great as well....

    As for Bosh, I dunno about his energy levels sometimes. What was up with all of the 3 pointer attempts??? I think he needs to work on his conditioning sometimes, he's very young and still gets very tired, while ppl like howard/kobe can play almost the entire game and not miss a beat. Hopefully he'll bounce back for game 4, I doubt it will be another blowout so he has to step his game up.

    Glad they won, and Moon was great. SMitch's decision to remove him from the starting lineup was a HUGE blunder, and Moon proved it last night. Hopefully I'll be at the game tomorrow so I'll post back my thoughts after. Just give a guy a couple of hrs to find some time!

    Ref's were covered earlier, it was equally bad for both teams, and that female ref was wayyy too whistle happy, calling the game by the book when it's playoff time is just terrible. Let them play on unless it's a foul that affected the game!

    Btw, Where's BigC? Can't believe I'm not seeing posts from him given it's playoff time!

    GO RAPS GO
  27. Jason J from Markham, Canada writes: Oh, home, sweet home!

    TJ played better than previous two games, but more important than his stats, he played under control.
  28. MJ M from Canada writes: I am neither a TJ hater nor lover nor Jose lover nor hater. I do think though that too much attention is paid to Ford-when he plays good or when he plays bad. This just feeds his sense of importance. Jose last night had better stats 18-13 than TJ. TJ played great for sure 21-3 but Jose a more complete game.I think Bosh gave up a lot of shots to get TJ going so give credit Bosh also.
  29. Dwide Schrude from Canada writes: anyone who's read my previous posts will know I've been saying it all along, these guys are like the Jordan era Bulls playing at home. They are confident, assured and agressive.

    Unfortunately they don't have home court advantage, which means either they toughen up in Orlando, or it's bye-bye in the first round again. Expect them to even it up tomorrow then fold like a cheap suit back in Disneyland.
  30. Yertu Damkule from Canada writes: smooth - WTF is work? it's kinda slow, and i don't like my job. boredom breeds, oh, what is it again? good point about bosh/conditioning - but some of that was, i think, leftover from tuesday's game...heavy minutes, many of which were spent pounding in the blocks w/ DH. anyone who's played a bigger guy knows what kind of toll that can take...even when all the other guy is doing is leaning on you, it's physically draining. doesn't help that he gives up, what, 30 lbs (of muscle) to howard? it's not necessarily *fair* to compare him to howard (who's simply stronger than everyone else) or kobe (who plays an entirely different position & doesn't take near the physical pounding). but life ain't fair, last i checked, or i'd be in a job that didn't allow me this much time to post stupid comments on the 'net... as for the 3-pt attempts - i have the same problem as you; while he can make them, it's not his game - i'm sure SVG's eyes light up when he sees bosh camped out back there, knowing that there's a 30% chance of it going in, but a 99.9% chance howard will avoid getting a foul, and a 99.9% chance bosh will be in there to rebound. but hey, it's different if he makes a couple, right...then we're flipping out over how versatile he is. i love moon's energy, he was exactly what they needed...but does anyone else's a$$ pucker a bit when he squares for jumper?
  31. Yertu Damkule from Canada writes: oops, meant 'bosh won't be in there to rebound.'
  32. One For All All For One from Canada writes: I have to say its hard to ask for anything else than what happened in last nights game. Its strange but all those things we'd been told to watch for, that didn't happen all season, came to being last night.

    1. Both point guards playing well, destroying the opposition, Ford scoring at will and Calderon shooting well and distributing the ball. Chris Paul like production between the two

    2. Bargnani hitting a few shots, but more importantly playing good D on Howard, and creating the match up problems for the Magic. It gives us a 7 footer on defense but still allows us to play the small ball that has been so effective.

    3. Kapono finding the 3 point line, and shooting 50%, further spacing the floor.

    4. Solid team rebounding to make up for the lack of an individual rebounder.

    Win or lose this series, seeing these thing gives great comfort on the future for the raptors.
  33. Archie Gillespie from cowtown, Canada writes: Yertu, yeah I think everyone winces when Moon has the ball at the 3 point line and you can almost see his mind churning on what his next move is going to be...little fella on his left shoulder saying shoot the 3, you can make it and little Sam on his right shoulder saying don't you even think about it. At least he only had three attempts and the one he made was a beauty. Which brings up did anyone see him drive and make a finger roll basket? I might be dreaming and I need someone to confirm that happened. GO RAPS.
  34. j s from rapland, Canada writes: I was at that game and the energy was INCREDIBLE! I don't know if you could tell on TV how loudly the crowd was screaming "Hooowaaard" whenever Superman went to the free throw line. It was deafening, and without a doubt messed up his concentration. And I can't blame him either. I wouldn't want 20,000 people madly yelling at me me either. But it sure was fun!

    One thing I noticed in the comments above was how people were dissing Violet Palmer and the refs. I think this is foolish. One of the main reasons the Raps lost the first games was because the refs let so much go and consequently Howard was able to dominate physically at will. This game they actually called everything and as a result we had more room to manoeuvre. Also, I was out of my chair screaming at the refs a half-dozen times at what i was convinced were terrible calls, but with only one exception (the 2nd half block called on Delfino) when they showed the reply on the jumbotron it was the right call in every case. I actually thought that the refs were amazing, especially sitting pretty close to the action, to have gotten it right so often. Hey even there's only a little movement on a screen or a defensive challenge it's still a block, and I think it worked in our favour that they called it by the book.

    I've gone to a lot of raps games over the years and this was certainly one of the most exciting I've witnessed. Even when Vince was leading them (hard to remember that there was a time when he was a leader) I don't recall the ACC being that insane.

    go raps!
  35. Big Cayman from South Toronto, Canada writes: Smooth! Are you blind? LOL! Did you not see my post above yours...
  36. Joseph Daniel from Canada writes: Archie that 3 by moon was great. The ball movement that preceeded his shot was outstanding. They penetrated kicked it around untill it got to moon who was wide open. I think all 5 on the floor touched that ball before moon. I missed the finger roll though. Big C welcome back, I posted earlier that I think Bosh was still recovering from Tuesday's beating that he took. Everyone was laying the body on him, even Lewis. Bosh left it all out on the floor on Tuesday. I expect we will see Bosh's jumper back on saturday. Will probably need it for that game.
  37. May Loo from Canada writes: I watched a bit of the game from last night (Thursday). Now if only the Raptors can tie up the series in the next game ... After a brutal Tuesday night when the Flames, Calgary Hitmen (WHL), Raptors and Blue Jays all lost, I can watch TV sports again. And it's nice to see another 'sea of red'-too bad it's not in the Saddledome though.
  38. John Nicholson from Oshawa, writes: The 3 keys to the game:

    Chris Bosh occupying 2/3 Magic players in the post and kicking out to the shooters for open 2s and 3s. Open looks TJ took advantage of.
    Although Bosh did not score (he was SVG's main focus in his game plan) he was the key to Mitchell's game plan, and it worked.

    The PG play/shooting by TJ at the start and Jose at the end.

    Finally some aggressive defense (Andrea etc)/offense on Howard.
    Superman with 5 fouls, 6 turnovers, 0 blocks, and 3/8 ft's.

    Go Raptors, follow the formula, Forderon is the key!!!
  39. Arn N from Kitchener, Canada writes: I think the Raps raised their game by about 3 notches last night........or maybe it was 4 notches?! I'm not sure, but the point is the Raps played good D, with Jamario's rebounding and Bargnani's surprisingly good play on Howard.

    If the Raps keep playing defence they will win the series easily.
  40. Big Cayman from South Toronto, Canada writes: First Tomcat, then Brangelina, now Forderon? That's some weak metro shyte but still funny in a way. Forderon, hahaha! Now you know that must in some way offend Roger S. I can hear it now:... "Forderon??!!, You not can put MVP side by bad shot too much guy with no clue TJ Ford. Sam say this to pretend jose not start. Calderford not neither good. You have separate both because my nephew pass better then Ford cannot do anything except bench... Fire Sam Mitchell now!"
  41. Rich Chan from Vancouver, Canada writes: Big C, that's hilarious. Key's to our win yesterday. TJ's shot's going in (because he takes so many most of the time) and Jose closing the 4th. That's it.
  42. Rich Chan from Vancouver, Canada writes: Actually guys, something just made me chuckle a while ago, but it's really just in my head. What if Big C was TJ Ford and Roger S was Jose Calderon? If this was the case, I think the joke would be on me. Just kidding guys, don't take it personal. I'm just playing around.
  43. j s from rapland, Canada writes: speaking of which...check out this fine blog if you haven't already:

    http://caldeford.blogspot.com/

    dude has some good stuff...
  44. Roger S from Canada writes: I can"confirm" Bosh's three pointer attempts was inspired by Tim Duncan's killer shot against the Suns. Although Bosh never made more than 2 out of 10 tries in practice and unguarded situation, but he will continue to shoot in the series. You never know, eventually, may be one of those will drop, and happen to be the game winner. Just like what Duncan did.
  45. Roger S from Canada writes: Arroyo is TJ's darling.
  46. andy c from Canada writes: Arroyo may not see the floor again in first round with the exception of scrub time.

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